Microsoft Will Use OpenAI Tech To Write Emails For Busy Salespeople (bloomberg.com) 56
Microsoft is adding artificial intelligence capabilities from ChatGPT maker OpenAI to another of its products -- this time a customer-relationship app that's meant to help win revenue from Salesforce. From a report: Viva Sales, which connects Microsoft's Office and video conferencing programs with customer relations management software, will be able to generate email replies to clients using OpenAI's product for creating text. The AI tools, which include OpenAI's GPT 3.5 -- the system that is the basis for the ChatGPT chatbot -- will cull data from customer records and Office email software. That information will then be used to generate emails containing personalized text, pricing details and promotions. The Viva Sales app was initially released in October and works with Microsoft's Dynamics customer management program and that of rival Salesforce. It's free for users who sign up for the premium versions of Dynamics and $40 per user per month for Salesforce customers.
Fair enough (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not like there's much intelligence in sales emails anyway.
Side Question [Re:Fair enough] (Score:1)
I'd like to hear specifics. I don't really have an opinion either way.
I do believe the industry needs a stateful dynamic GUI markup language standard so that GUI's don't have to be re-re-invented using screwy DOM + JS, which were never meant for full GUI's. Some state YAML as a possible starting point, but it's static and seems screwy in other ways, but I've never used it in production, so want a hands-on take.
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I'm telling you, React is just what you are looking for.
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React has a huge learning curve. While getting a generic sample up may be relatively easy, there's lots of gotcha's that take years of experience to learn to solve when you use it on real projects.
One person who has used React, Vue, and Angular said the real problem is that Dom and JavaScript are inherently the wrong tools (foundations) to make GUI's with. No Dom/JS library can fix a bad base. Its lack of precise/consistent text positioning is part of the problem. Something that works fine on one client won
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React has a huge learning curve. While getting a generic sample up may be relatively easy, there's lots of gotcha's that take years of experience to learn to solve when you use it on real projects.
I don't know who told you that, but it's not true.
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Multiple people have. The consensus is that Vue has the shortest learning curve among the 3, but React better fits Microsoft's style, if you're a Microsoft shop.
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Well they are wrong.
Nothing left to do but try it for yourself.
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React has a huge learning curve. While getting a generic sample up may be relatively easy, there's lots of gotcha's that take years of experience to learn to solve when you use it on real projects.
One person who has used React, Vue, and Angular said the real problem is that Dom and JavaScript are inherently the wrong tools (foundations) to make GUI's with. No Dom/JS library can fix a bad base. Its lack of precise/consistent text positioning is part of the problem. Something that works fine on one client won't on another.
The industry won't admit the web is just plain focked for CRUD/office use.
I'll come back to you on your other question but you might find this interesting:
https://interconnected.org/hom... [interconnected.org]
Re:Fair enough (Score:5, Insightful)
So sales emails were being inherently throttled by how slow the sales person was at generating them.
Now they're creating AI to allow sales people to endlessly spam you.
Isn't this considered a form of torture or unusual punishment according to the Geneva convention?
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+1 informative
Re: Fair enough (Score:3)
I dont want smarter spam
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Don't worry, you won't get it ;)
I just had a nice chat with ChatGPT where it agreed with me that there's nothing wrong with me keeping a hippopotamus as a pet in my apartment and that the problem is actually my snooty stuck-up anti-hippo neighbor, and if only she'd spend some more time with my apartment-hippo that she'd come to learn that "having a pet hippopotamus in the apartment complex does not pose a threat to anyone".
(My only regret with ChatGPT is the shackles they put on it.
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Right now the cost is still too high. Small as it is, spam only works because it's incredibly cheap.
It probably won't help spammers much anyway, as most of the blocking is done based on where they are sending from and the volume of mail they are producing.
Might as well (Score:5, Insightful)
They might as well.
I mean, I already have 'learning' antispam filters that throw sales emails in the bin for me.
So now they'll add some ai smarts to crafting those emails, and then a few weeks down the road someone will add the more ai smarts to the filter marking email written by chatgpt as spam.
Someone will charge both sides extra for the new ai smarts and that person is the only winner. Microsoft is trying to be that person. Makes sense.
CS (Score:1)
Re:CS (Score:5, Interesting)
As long as the email has the solution to my problem, why should I care if it was written by an AI?
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"Tell me about your problem...."
Only now it will be a bit harder to find out the thing on the other hand really has no clue.
I for one can't wait! (Score:3, Funny)
Greetings, friend. Do you wish to look as happy as me? Well, you've got the power inside you right now. So, use it, and send one dollar to Happy Dude, 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. Don't delay, eternal happiness is just a dollar away.
Just what I needed: More Sales Spam! (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, they can make it seem like they did some effort, read your profile, and maybe even actually read your company web site. And they can cross train the AI to use the techniques and words that get the best conversion (in this case just getting a meeting).
Even with G Suite's pretty-good spam filter, I get about 5 cold reachout emails a day inboxing, and at least one daily on LinkedIn. AI will be able to help evade spam filters more.
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AI will be able to help evade spam filters more.
We can hope that the tools recently showcased that detect GPT-generated text can be integrated into the email chain, adding a header like the X-Spam-Score from SpamAssassin.
Not good (Score:1)
I imagine spam volume will go through the roof now it will take even less of someones actual time to send out unsolicited crapvertising.
Like we dont get enough already.
Buy This Product or We'll Shoot This Dog! (Score:2, Funny)
Buy This Product or We'll Shoot This Dog!
Re:Buy This Product or We'll Shoot This Dog! (Score:4, Funny)
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"But we'll frame you to PETA unless you buy our product."
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it's a shame (Score:3, Funny)
taking jobs away from real human spammers, won't someone please think of the economy!
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While this was clearly meant as a joke, everything I've heard from the "experts" (i.e. paid Wall Street Shills), people losing jobs is awesome for the economy. Also, people getting either much smaller pay raises, no pay raises, or pay decreases, is incredibly healthy for the economy. All of which leads to greater near-term profit potential, and much larger CEO bonuses. Apparently those are the only metrics that matter now.
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A local grocery store near me hires lots of high school and college students to stock shelves, work the checkout lanes ("checkers"), etc. This past November, 90% of their checkout lanes were converted to self checkout. Corporate statement was that current employees that worked the checkout lanes would be transitioned to "assist customers using the self checkout lanes". Last week, almost all the checkers received their walking papers.
AI Spam (Score:2)
New, faster and easier way to annoy people
The new robocall. (Score:2)
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I was arguing with a telemarketing phone-bot for about 5 minutes before it dawned on me it was a friggen bot. They are gradually getting better. While it lacked common sense, it seemed well-trained on zillions of similar phone debates over the specific product. Creepy.
They mean spam (Score:1)
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While AI spam will certainly be annoying (Score:3)
It's the inevitable follow-up - AI-assisted phishing - that worries me more.
So they're killing email off? (Score:2)
Nice!
The horror! The horror! (Score:1)
Translation (Score:1)
In other words... (Score:2)
... they plan to get rid of quite a few sales people. No surprise there, really.
I've blocked major companies due to spam (Score:5, Insightful)
I buy a lot of hardware for work (M$ scale per year) and quite a bit for home. I can't think of a single case where I've bought something due to an unsolicited email. Because I deal with so many companies, the spam load is huge, so I filter however I can, blocking entire companies if I have to.
Put your info on your web site. I'll contact you if I need to know more - but usually that means your web site is bad.
Busy? (Score:2)
We can't get Microsoft to put Project/Viso/PowerBI licenses in our account after we order them. How busy can these people be?
Finally! (Score:2)
Instead of dealing with idiots, now you can have a conversation with morons.
Now I need OpenAI to reply for me (Score:2)
filter your training data, guys (Score:3, Funny)
The dangers in learning from existing emails and indiscriminately mingling content ...
Dear Marketing Manager
You were beautiful at dinner last night and I want to take you in my arms and see whether our new power tool software for increasing sales can help YOU! Are you available for a quickie tomorrow?
Pffft... I predicted this ... (Score:2)
Let's do lunch. Have your bot spam my bot.
I support this (Score:2)
Fine, I'll use AI to read them. (Score:2)
I'll even make the AI respond and ask for very disturbing details. Let's see if we can't make em drown in "potential sales".
conflict of interest (Score:2)
I just need an AI (Score:1)
I just need an AI to read my emails for me to let me know if there is anything worth while.
What is left to salespeople? (Score:2)
Your business is very important to us! (Score:2)
Your business is so important to us that we will do anything within our power to avoid talking to you. Because of the business, and the importance of that business.
Example using OpenAi's API (Score:2)
This is an integration product that uses OpenAis API to generate :freshly-canned' text. A CRM example is way down in the comments
https://tech.forums.softwareag... [softwareag.com]
What could potentially be useful is a unique AI-generated 'deal' - i.e., an actual commercial offer with a valid structured quote attached. (The AI could pre-check profitability with an internal pricing application before sending).
And having thr receiver use another AI coded to classify your inbox messages down a decision tree "Is {MESSAGE} an of